Past Continuous Tense in French

The past continuous tense in French is generally expressed using the imparfait. It is used to express something that was ongoing in the past, or something that was happening when something else happened. A good way to think of the past continuous tense in French is that whenever you would use a verb ending in -ing, to describe something in the past -- you're using the past continuous tense. (In French, that's called the imparfait.)

Past Continuous Tense in French: Imparfait

The most common way to express the idea that something happened in the past but was ongoing, or impermanent is by using the imparfait. You should use the imparfait when you are talking about:

Actions in the Past That Happened Repeatedly or Didn't End

L'année dernière, je jouais sur l'équipe de football. Last year I played on a soccer team.

J'attendais recevoir un coup de fil. I was waiting for a phone call.

Use With Passé Composè for Background Information

Je faisais la queue quand j'ai vu l'accident. I was waiting in line when I saw the accident.

Nous regardions le match quand nous avons entendu le bruit. We were watching the game when we heard the noise.

Conditional Sentences

Si je pouvais, je vous aiderais. If I could help you, I would.

Si j'avais de l'argent, je te le donnerais. If I had the money, I would give it to you.

Using Être en Train De and Venir De In the Past

J'étais en train de nettoyer. I was just (in the middle of) cleaning.

Elle venait de sortir. She had just gone out.

How to Conjugate the Imparfait

The imparfait is actually one of the easier tenses to conjugate in French. It's a simple tense (meaning that it only requires one verb as opposed to a compound tense like passé composé which requires an auxiliary verb). The only irregularities are some spelling changes as noted below.

Conjugating the Imparfait

For any verb, you conjugate the imparfait by taking the nous form of the verb and dropping the '-ons' and adding the appropriate imparfait ending as follows:

Imparfait

je

-ais

nous

-ions

tu

-ais

vous

-iez

il/elle/on

-ait

ils/elles

-aient

Exceptions and Examples

There is always at least one exception to the rule. In this case the exception is minor and still very easy to remember. The verb 'être' is conjugated in the imparfait by using the stem '-ét'. Look at the chart below for examples:

Conjugating the Imparfait

Avoir

Être

Aller

Jouer

Dormir

Prendre

Voir

j'avais

j'étais

j'allais

je jouais

je dormais

je prenais

je voyais

tu avais

tu étais

tu allais

tu jouais

tu dormais

tu prenais

tu voyais

il avait

il était

il allait

il jouait

il dormait

il prenait

il voyait

nous avions

nous étions

nous allions

nous jouions

nous dormions

nous prenions

nous voyions

vous aviez

vous étiez

vous alliez

vous jouiez

vous dormiez

vous preniez

vous voyiez

ils avaient

ils étaient

ils allaient

ils jouaient

ils dormaient

ils prenaient

ils voyaient

Spelling Irregularities and Notes

There's always at least one exception to the rule! Make sure you note these exceptions when you're working in the imparfait:

Verbs that end in -ger, and -cer have slight spelling modifications to maintain the soft c and g.

Manger and Lancer in the Imparfait

je mangeais

je lançais

tu mangeais

tu lançais

il mangeait

il lançait

nous mangions

nous lancions

vous mangiez

vous lanciez

ils mangeaient

ils lançaient

While it might look funny to you, verbs whose first person plural root (the nous form of the verb) end in i, have a double i in the nous and vous forms of the imparfait. Therefore, étudier, becomes: étudiions and étudiiez

The imparfait is one of the easiest verb tenses to conjugate because there are very few irregularities. The trick is to figure out when to use it as opposed to the passé composé. However, with practice you'll be on your way to speaking like a true Francophone!

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